Chapter Text
Once Ralsei returned with the floral tape and finished helping wrap his wound, Flowery was left alone in the Living-room-rest-area-thingy after Ralsei mentioned having "Important Castle Town things to attend to." He looked down at his new bandages. They were a dark green this time, with a bit of stretch, and a texture more like fabric, or actual medical tape. They stuck better than the last ones, too.
He had sat there for quite a while afterwards. He couldn't tell exactly how long it was. He's went through about four different sitting positions that would probably look super uncomfortable to anyone else looking at him, and quite quickly got bored of trying to entertain himself by mashing various voice clips together. He even tried one of the little star-shaped candies Ralsei had left on the table for him. It was sweet, kind of marshmallowy. He liked it, but it didn't help cure his boredom. He sighed, popping another candy in his mouth.
He glanced around the room. There wasn't much else to do in here.
He didn't really want to try and move again, but he certainly didn't want to sit alone in this room all day, either. The faint smell of hydrogen peroxide still lingered, and it was beginning to make him nauseous. He spotted a water pitcher on a counter on the other side of the room. He was starting to feel a bit thirsty, now that he thought about it. When was the last time he was watered?
Making up his mind, he stood and grabbed his cane from where it sat propped up against the couch and began towards the door.
He had only made it halfway across the room when the door opened.
A familiar set of green eyes peeked in, accompanied by a set of pink fluffy cat ears. "Oh! you're still here!" She opened the door the rest of the way before walking up to him, her bell earrings quietly jingling as she moved. "Ralsei wasn't sure if you'd left already."
Flowery smiled, mood instantly brightened. "Pink! It's good to see you!" before he could ask how she'd been, he was stopped by a tight, but still gentle, hug. He returned the hug, putting a hand on the back of his older sister's head, which was buried in his shoulder.
"If you ever do something stupid like that again, I will beat you up myself," Pink mumbled.
He pat her on the back. "Noted. Missed you too, Pink."
After finishing their hug, and Flowery chugging half a pitcher of water with record timing, the two of them walked down the hall and out towards the main area of Castle Town, with Pink catching him up on all the recent developments he'd missed. Apparently, the rest of the bouquet were staying in a greenhouse-like building that popped up when they were all brought here. He doesn't remember seeing anything like that on his walk. then again, he wasn't really paying much attention, either.
"They're all really worried about you," she looked down at her shoes as she walked. "Ory especially. None of them have been told very much of anything." She paused for a moment, as if thinking over what she wanted to say next. "They… They're completely in the dark. About you, and…" she fidgeted with her hands as she spoke. "And Asgore. None of them know what happened."
Flowery opened his mouth to speak. Words didn't come out.
Flowery suddenly felt something clogging his throat, accompanied by a scratchy feeling and a slight… burning? There was an odd bitter taste on the back of his tongue. He subconsciously tried to inhale through the blockage, and started choking before he could stop himself.
Pink was at his side in an instant. She held him up, stabilizing him before he could collapse. He thought that maybe she was asking him something, but he couldn't quite tell.
He felt the foreign object in his throat shift, the choking subsiding. He glanced up at pink, who was holding him by the shoulders and looking at him with a worried expression. He went to reassure her, tell her that he was fine, but attempting to speak caused another bout of choking. He thinks he hears Pink shout something. He isn't sure. The prolonged lack of carbon dioxide in his system is starting to make him feel dizzy.
He felt Pink jab the heel of her palm straight into his back directly between his shoulder blades. Hard.
The object dislodged from his throat, shooting through the air and landing on the ground with a gentle plop. He wheezed, lungs trying to take in as much air as possible, overcompensating for the loss. He tried to see what he had coughed up, but Pink hurriedly stepped in front of him, grabbing his face in her hands.
"Flowery! Oh my goodness, are you alright? What happened?" her ears were airplained, and her eyes were wide as saucers as she stared at him.
He swatted her hands away with a shy smile. " 'M fine, Pink. Just, somethin' in my throat was all. Sorry," he tried to clear his throat. Huh. that burning sensation was still there. weird.
"Uh, YEAH there was something in your throat alright! I thought you were going to literally hack up a lung! What even…" she trailed off as she turned to look at the ground where the object had landed. She walked over to it silently and crouched down, pinching it between two of her claws and picking it up. She stood back up, turning and walking towards him. She was still staring at the object, a puzzled expression on her face.
Flowery squinted at it. Then, his eyes widened.
It was small, about the size of a water bottle cap. It was mainly yellow. And he had recognized it.
A small buttercup flower bud, seemingly just beginning to bloom. the tips of the petals were open slightly. It was covered in a clear green liquid. Chlorophyll.
Something finally clicked.
That came from inside of him.